The devious Team GO Rocket are taking over Pokémon GO in May 2025, including Leader Arlo. A new Crown Clash: Taken Over, which focuses on Team GO Rocket, is set to launch later on in May, but the whole team is causing problems for trainers from the start of the month.

All three of the Team GO Rocket leaders provide tough tests when trainers face them. All the Pokémon they use will have a higher than most other opponents, as well as being shadow variants, further increasing their stats and attacking power. This makes using the best counters important if you are looking to beat Arlo this month in Pokémon GO.

Arlo's Team & Counters In Pokémon GO (May 2025)

No Changes For May 2025

Arlo's line-up remains unchanged from the one that he used in April 2025, but this might change when the new Team Go Rocket event kicks in on 14 May. Arlo will always start every battle with Poison- and Dark-type Alolan Grimer. His next two choices will be picked at random out of three Pokémon.

His second Pokémon will be one out of Water- and Psychic-type Slowbro, Water and Flying-type Gyarados, or Ground-type Dugtrio. Like all the other GO Rocket Leaders, Arlo's third choice will be a high Pokémon that is difficult to beat. It will be either Bug and Steel Scizor, Steel and Psychic Metagross, or Poison and Dark Alolan Muk.

Out of all the Team GO Rocket Leaders and Boss, Arlo is actually the hardest to beat in May 2025, as his team is the only one that you can't cover easily with three Pokémon. While some of his team have the same weaknesses, the only way to be super-effective against all of his Pokémon is to use at least one that can have different types of Fast Attack and Charged Attack.

Consequently, a great Pokémon to use is Rhyperior. As a Rock- and Ground-type, it can be set up with both types of attacks, meaning you will either have a fast or charged attack that is super-effective against a number of Arlo's Pokémon. He will always start with Alolan Grimer, who is only weak to Ground-type attacks, as is its evolved form Alolan Muk, if this is selected by Arlo. Rhyperior's Ground-type attack also has an advantage against Metagross, while its Rock-type attacks can dominate Gyarados.

For the rest of your team, you should select a Grass-type and a Fire-type Pokémon, as these can cover Arlo's remaining options.

Zarude is currently one of the best Grass types on offer in Pokémon GO, and will be able to defeat Slowbro and Dugtrio. While using Legendary Ho-Oh, you can counter Scizor, whose only weakness is Fire-type attacks. Ho-Oh can also be used for Metagross if you are struggling to take it down with Rhyperior.

Rewards For Beating Arlo In Pokémon GO

A Chance To Catch An Alolan Version Pokémon

Like with the other GO Rocket Leaders, Sierra and Cliff, you will receive a number of rewards each time you defeat Arlo this month in Pokémon GO. If you want to take on GO Rocket Boss Giovanni this month, you will need to first defeat all three Leaders, including Arlo. On top of the opportunity to go on to face Giovanni, you will also receive an encounter with Alolan Grimer immediately following the end of the battle.

Additionally, you will receive a number of items picked at random out of 4x Revives, 4x Hyper Potions, 2x Max Revives, 2x Max Potions, or 1x Unova Stone, which can all help you on your Pokémon GO journey. Finally, you will also receive a 12km red egg, as long as you have space for one in your egg inventory. Arlo remains a tough test in Pokémon GO, but he can be defeated in May 2025 as long as you use the best counters in your team.